קָהָה qâhâh — to be dull
Translated in the KJV as be set on edge, be blunt.
a primitive root; to be dull.
qâhâh in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 3
In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
Pi'el
Perfect (qatal) 1
If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›